He's With Me
by RayWritesThings
Summary: As they flee the carnage in Paris, Wolfgang sits and contemplates Rajan Rasal. Missing Scene from "Amor Vincit Omnia"


**Hello, readers. I've decided to start cross-posting some of my fics from AO3 and tumblr over to FFN, so if you recognize this story most likely you've read it on either of my accounts there (Ray_Writes and raywritesthings, respectively). If you haven't read it before, I hope you enjoy!**

**-RayWritesThings**

**He's With Me**

His new freedom had yet to feel real, and there was already so much to think about, but he couldn't focus. Lila had escaped with Whispers, there had been interference by Bodhi, and they were fleeing the police presence in Paris, and yet all he could think about was the man sat across from him. The man who had so recently saved his life at the exchange.

Wolfgang watched and contemplated Rajan Rasal.

He had not been aware Rajan had joined the others in Paris or that he had been told about their cluster. The last thing he had expected was to see him at the club, there along with Kala to help rescue him.

Without the constancy of blockers, the memories of his cluster were beginning to filter through. Rajan arriving at the apartment, totally shocked yet going along with Kala's demands as they fled the men who'd followed him there; the explanation of _homo sensorium_ and Kala's place among them giving way to an understanding the couple had never quite shared; the gentle, cherished kiss between a husband and wife.

Once, what felt a lifetime ago before his capture by BPO, he had told Kala what they had was a fantasy. That it was all in their heads so long as he was in Berlin and she and her husband were in Bombay. Now her husband was sitting just inches away and all too real.

Rajan turned to meet his gaze unexpectedly. "Are you visiting? Is it Kala?" Wolfgang gave a bit of a start.

"Why would you think that?"

"You had a faraway look on your face. Kala gets that same expression." His lips twitched, like he wasn't sure Wolfgang would appreciate a fond smile. Most people thought he didn't like smiling. "I never understood why before, but I thought it was very sweet she was always thinking. And now I know she was thinking of others, which is also very like her."

Wolfgang inclined his head in agreement. "You seem to be taking it well," he remarked.

Rajan lifted a single shoulder in a shrug. "Kala has always had a kind, open heart. It is hardly surprising she would have welcomed so many people into it given the connections she has made all over the world. It is one of the things I love and respect most about my wife and that I have tried my best to emulate in my own life."

Something felt stuck in Wolfgang's throat, so he nodded stiffly.

He had never hated Rajan. How could he, when he felt Kala's care and concern and even affection for him as if it were his own? He'd never blamed Rajan for marrying Kala, either, or providing her the life and home he never could; pleasing her parents and respecting her traditions even if he did not understand them.

Though knowing what he did about Rajan and his company's troubles, he had to consider not for the first time their similarities as opposed to their differences. They had both grown up inside family businesses and been taught the previous generation's unscrupulous methods. They were both in trouble with the law. They were both harborers of secrets.

And yet they were not alone in that regard; Kala had been lying to her husband all the while he had been lying to her. And the pretense of the good wife was no more. Now all three of them could see each other clearly.

He thought of his and Kala's plans to run away together to Paris — to _Rajan's _Paris apartment — and could feel nothing but shame in hindsight. Running away and hiding was cowardly, even if Kala had been able to tell Rajan first before Lila had tracked Wolfgang down. He had deserved a full explanation and the ability to decide where things went from there the same as them. Choice was tantamount to Wolfgang, and he should have extended that courtesy to Rajan.

A part of him still wanted to hide away, perhaps to visit with one of the others; Will and Nomi, making plans as always; Sun, interjecting with her own calm wisdom when not wrapped up in the newfound happiness with her detective; Riley, a whisper of concern across his mind — _are you alright? _; Lito, proudly fielding Hernando and Dani's questions as well as adding his own to the mix; Capheus, keeping their course to safety true — _I knew we would succeed, my friend _; and Kala...Kala.

"Can you connect with Kala? I do not wish for you to spy on her for me," Rajan added before he could even start to voice that protest. "Just, if you can, tell me how she is feeling about all of this?"

Wolfgang considered him for another long moment.

It took him only a breath to reach out and join her, even across the distance. Her mind was racing so fast he doubted she even noticed his presence.

"She's...worried. About us, about us talking about this," he said, gesturing between them. "She's never wanted to hurt you, and now that you've accepted her for who she is she feels this would be asking too much." Wolfgang sighed. "But she knows something will have to happen eventually. She's trying to be brave."

"Something will have to happen," Rajan repeated. His eyes lowered to the floor of the van. "She loves you."

"She married you. She chose you," said Wolfgang. He wasn't sure what he'd been expecting to feel when this moment came — if he'd believed it would ever come. Victory? Satisfaction?

Not this. Not the crushing guilt or the panic that had seized his gut or the strange sense of _loss _as he watched Rajan slowly withdraw.

"I would not wish for her to feel some sense of obligation to remain with me. Ours was meant to be a love marriage."

Wolfgang leaned forward, forcing the other man to see him, to make contact. "I will make this right."

It had to sound like an empty promise, yet Rajan said, "I believe you."

Wolfgang nodded and looked down. So it was decided. Whenever this was all over, whenever they were safe from BPO, it would be at an end. Him and Kala. As permanently as could be possible for their species. It was the right thing to do, and he wanted to do the right thing for Kala even as much as she wanted him to do the selfish thing.

Then Rajan sat forward as well. "Everything I did with my family's company, everything I learned to do from my father, was to provide the best life possible for my wife and our children. And now, with this investigation, I fear I must rely solely on myself to provide Kala her happiness...and to ask help from others when I cannot."

Wolfgang looked up at him sharply.

Rajan seemed, if anything, amused by the look on his face. "My father says that support is the most important part of any marriage. Now, we have come to disagree on many things, particularly recently, but on this matter I feel his counsel is sound." He nodded to himself, then continued, "If Kala truly has feelings for you, if _you _make her happy, then as her husband I can only support her."

Wolfgang stared at him for a long moment. "She's right about you. You are a good man."

This time, Rajan did smile. "She has told me the same about you."

And Wolfgang, despite how well and truly _fucked up _things had become, found himself smiling back.


End file.
